I know this flys in the face of "Internet lore" but there is nothing wrong with current production Marathon tires.
I understand that Goodyear had their issues with this line when they began production overseas but the issue has been corrected. The service department of the largest Airstream dealer in this country says that they have zero issues these days.
My Marathons have 8000 miles on them today and I am keeping them!
Bruce

I bought a GYM last July from the largest Goodyear dealer here in Toledo Ohio it has a 2012 date code on it and made in China they didn't know that was where they are made I bought it for a spare just before a trip . Les wbcci14183

I went to the Michelin tires after I had a GYM failure which caused a lot of skin damage. I stayed with the 15 inch only because we are making short trips and I did not have time to go with the 16 inch. I have a more comfort feeling with the Michelin's even though they are near the rated capacity but will not feel like I have done all I can until I put on the 16 inch wheels and Michelin tires. I say if you are in doubt do the 16 inch if you have the time and money and plan to do some serious pulling. Just my 2 cents.

Phoenix,
What you are not allowing for is the fact that these reviews reflect upon an issue we all know happened. No one is denying that. Not even Goodyear! The question is (or should be) what date range and how many tires were affected? I am sure that there are Marathons out there from the "bad period" that are just fine. I am also sure that with current production this issue is now history.

Once again, the service manager for the largest Airstream dealership in the country says that he would put them on his own trailer. He can put on anything, he recommends that you stay with the Marathons! They sell lots of tires and He has to answer to customers if something goes wrong!
That is a statistical slice that none of us can match with our personal
knowledge, internet reviews or no.

Frankly if you want Michelins buy them, they are an excellent tire company and build a wonderful product. I really do not understand the difference in ST and LT ratings and hesitate to listen to any explanation I find on the Internet! I would happily listen to an engineer who's job is to design tires, explain the difference, but until then it is a mystery to me thus something to be wary of.

The other reason I am so dogmatic in my defense of the Marathons is that I install tires on autos as a part of my business. I see a lot! I see failures and I see success. I hear excuses, I hear praise and I hear complaints. I have seen great no-name tires I have seen brand new faulty Michelins, a tire I consider one of the best. I have seen enough to be cautious of what I read online.

I bought a GYM last July from the largest Goodyear dealer here in Toledo Ohio it has a 2012 date code on it and made in China they didn't know that was where they are made I bought it for a spare just before a trip . Les wbcci14183

Les,
Apparently, Goodyear began having problems with the Marathon when production first switched to China sometime 5 or 6 years ago. My understanding is that they then switched back to US production of the tire for a period of time while they investigated the cause of the failing tires coming from China. Once the problem was identified and corrected tire production was returned to China again. This is where they are all made now.
Bruce

I have been following all the dialogue I could regarding the subject of Airstream trailer tires.
I am convinced; (1) you cannot depend on Goodyear Marathons - seems too many people have experienced failures which may be disastrous. (2) even if you have marathons and have had no problems you are courting fate (3) the 16" sendel/michelin route is apparently a good cure even if the tire industry will not openly endorse it. (4)I have had a marathon failure on a previous brand of RV.
Having said all that I am however still not convinced that for my 2010 25' Flying Cloud with 7300 GVRW that the 15" Michelin LTX M/S2 isn't a sufficient fix using oem wheels.
How many folks have gone with the 15" Michelins, for how many miles and has it not worked out for any of you?
I discovered that my 2010 trailer has US manufactured Marathons built in March of 2009 thus are in their last year of life for me. I've towed it 16,000 miles, watch my pressure closely and try to take care of them but I would rather have a better tire.
I believe in the five year rule.
Been very interesting following all the posts to this subject.
Lou

You can put me firmly in the 'marathon ST are crap' camp.

That said, there's only (2) reasons I wouldn't move up to 16" (as long as there was a comfortable margin on load cap):

- changes your trailer pitch, ever so slightly. Depending on your hitch equip, that may be an issue.

- I've noticed slightly increased vibration from the 16" 'E' load Michelins, over the 15" 'D' load Goodyear-- in the form of backed out nuts/screws, open drawers. I plan on installing centramatics to deal with that.

I never said Airstreaming was cheap... but it's a way better value than the alternative.

One can also find GY dealers who won't install any ST tire on a trailer, as I have. ST tires are a new thing. Years back LT tires were the only choice. In speculation by at least one tire engineer it would appear that ST tires are a way of providing yet more economic life from otherwise obsolete/worn-out tire-making machinery/molds.

ST tires may be fine for a flat-deck trailer used to haul construction materials six times yearly. But that's an entirely different proposition from a $60k travel trailer, IMO. The risk of loss-of-use is magnitudes different. And one can look at the repair bills provided by boondockdad of the damage done by an ST tire blowout (over $7k, IIRC).

Jammer: RE your question on spending $ on other aspects besides tires/wheels. Absolutely. Before I even ordered my trailer I spent a LOT of time on AirForums. That led to ordering a ProPride 3P for it. Anything related to safety, I've upgraded -- even replacing my safety chains, transfer switch, converter/charger, water pressure accumulator, DirecLink controller (had a Prodigy P3....but changed anyway). NOTHING is more important to me than my safety and those who are on the highway with me. There are a number of folks on this Forum (and I could name them) for whom I have great respect. And, I think most people here are in search of learning from the experiences of others. There'll always be a couple of sides to each issue, and ultimately I make the call based on all the data/opinions/expertise.

Jammer: RE your question on spending $ on other aspects besides tires/wheels. Absolutely. Before I even ordered my trailer I spent a LOT of time on AirForums. That led to ordering a ProPride 3P for it. Anything related to safety, I've upgraded -- even replacing my safety chains, transfer switch, converter/charger, water pressure accumulator, DirecLink controller (had a Prodigy P3....but changed anyway). NOTHING is more important to me than my safety and those who are on the highway with me. There are a number of folks on this Forum (and I could name them) for whom I have great respect. And, I think most people here are in search of learning from the experiences of others. There'll always be a couple of sides to each issue, and ultimately I make the call based on all the data/opinions/expertise.

We just switched to the ProPride on our Bambi.
I only got interested after Every Single Person who owned one had the same thing to say about it....
How could I ignore all that advice?
I am simply amazed at the difference it makes towing!
Money well spent....
Bruce

Once again, the service manager for the largest Airstream dealership in the country says that he would put them on his own trailer. He can put on anything, he recommends that you stay with the Marathons! They sell lots of tires and He has to answer to customers if something goes wrong!
That is a statistical slice that none of us can match with our personal
knowledge, internet reviews or no.

He also has a whole lot full of those tires on trailers to sell. First rule of sales is you never disparage your own product.

Not sure where some of these other facts are coming from. But when the tire import tariff began in September 26, 2009 production was moved back to the US and when it expired in September 26, 2012 it immediately moved back to China.

He also has a whole lot full of those tires on trailers to sell. First rule of sales is you never disparage your own product.

Not sure where some of these other facts are coming from. But when the tire import tariff began in September 26, 2009 production was moved back to the US and when it expired in September 26, 2012 it immediately moved back to China.

My "other facts" come from people in the tire industry I know through my business.

My Marathons (made in China) have a production date of mid 2011 well before the import tarrif expired. Clearly Goodyear did not move Marathon production from and to China for tarrif reasons alone if at all.

As to the dealer in question, why would he sell only what was installed on the trailer new if he was seeing reliability issues with it? Can you imagine the profit center he could open up if he jumped on the bandwagon and just began replacing all Marathons with 16" Michelins? He could make a small fortune!
No he sells what works, plain and simple. Not everything is a conspiracy.

Phoenix,
I'm trying to keep a very open mind here. And I want you to know that whatever I say here is in every aspect might be the devil's advocate, or just trying to play the other side fairly. And it is in no way a personal attack. I would have the same discussion (argument) with my friends over beer!

I honestly don't know if the Marathon tires are better than the anything else. But what I'm trying to point out is that Marathon are absolutely the most popular tire put on trailers. If 75% of all consumer level trailers come with Goodyear Marathon tires, it's going to skew the results based on complaints. All things equal, GYM tires would create at least 3 times the complaints, blowouts, etc. Just for the fact that they're so popular.

Can you point to where it says they removed the Star Rating because there were too many negative comments? I see there's no star rating, but I don't see where it says why.

According to the Tirerack.com website:
Goodyear Marathon Radial: 97 reviews with an average score of 7.14
Michelin LTX M/S: 2139 reviews, score 8.3

Now I'm not going to read every single review, but there's plenty of good reviews for the Marathon. I don't think it's fair to just pick a nasty one and post it here without reading all 97 reviews, and figuring out which ones are good and which are bad. I'd say they're about 12% worse based on the scores.

Furthermore, you'd have to read all 2139 reviews of the Michelin, and just use the reviews where they used the tire on a travel trailer. Because this tire is designed for a light truck, I would guess that 99% of the reviews don't apply, and you can't compare that scoring system to the one for the Marathon.

Bruce, I believe a big part of it is the US just doesn't have the capacity anymore to make enough tires and they still had to supplement US production. The article is from a tire industry watch group shows tire production in China skyrocketed as soon as the tariff expired. So clearly it is about making tires cheaper in China. Why else would you have something made there?

It seems to me that it would be a hard sell to a customer looking at an Airstream, that they need to immediately buy new tires. That's how it comes from the factory, why would a dealer eat the cost of the GYM's they're taking off?

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